Rich Kids and Romance
by shebooya
Summary: Oo the drama starts ! :D OOC AU Shiznat ChieAoi Inspired by Gossip Girl
1. Prologue

Prologue

The girl entered what would be her new classroom for the rest of the year. She was really shy, and blushed as the kindergarten class went quiet to acknowledge her entrance.

St. Mary's Academy went from K to 12, and was one of the most prestigious schools in Fuuka. It was an school full of welathy children.

Fuuka: one of the biggest cities in the world. Kids who went to St. Mary's and lived in the Upper East Side of the city were kids promised with good futures.

The brunette was introduced to her fellow wealthy classmates and flushed again from all of their eager eyes.

"Everyone," the kind old teacher addressed the class, "I would like you to welcome the new student. This is Aoi Senoh."

Aoi timidly followed the teacher who placed her at a small desk next to a group of other children.

"Now class, please get out your notebooks and practice the alphabet."

Aoi followed the student's example and took out a notebook and pencil, tracing the letters as carefully as possible.

"You're really good at that."

Aoi snapped her head to the voice, and was met with beautiful red eyes and an equally cute 5 year old.

"Th-thank you." She gave a smile to the other brunette who smiled back.

"Aoi-chan, right?" Aoi nodded and flushed a little.

"I'm Shizuru Viola."

Shizuru was Aoi's first friend in her new home and in her new school.

She also became her best friend for the years to come, her other half. The sister she never had.

This was how they met, before going on their journey to the future, full of drama, parties, and love.


	2. Chapter 1: This is How We Met

Chapter 1: Early Days

Shizuru and Aoi were playmates in Kindergarten, best friends by the first grade and inseparable like sisters. They were often mistaken as sisters actually, since both were promising beauties, always seen together and had almost the same hair colour.

In grade 5, Aoi and Shizuru, without trying, became some of the most popular kids at St. Mary's.

Some of the little kids would stalk them, it was rather creepy.

Their days consisted of shopping for the latest fashions, gossiping to each other and having sleepovers.

There was one time where their parents thought their kids liked each other, but it was soon seen that they were simply like sisters. They had a special friendhsip that not many people were lucky enough to have.

One afternoon in the fifth grade, Shizuru and Aoi were calmly walking in the park and enjoying the wunny day. They sat in their favourite spot under the big oak tree they affectionately called 'Bogo' since Grade 1.

"Watch out!" there was a cry from near them and Aoi turned her head just in time to see a football coming their way.

She squealed and put her hands to her face to block the oncoming hit, but it never came.

She looked up in relief, to see Shizuru had caught it, relaxing since she was out of danger.

They both prepared to tell off the culprit, but they caught their retorts when a girl of their age, with dark long blue hair in a hat tilted to the side, ran up to them.

"Sorry." She said the words so beautifully.

Natsuki Kruger, Aoi's third crush.

"Nice catch though," The girl with emerald eyes smiled at the pair.

Shizuru for her part threw the ball back, "you should be more careful." Ah, Shizuru and her wit.

The blunette frowned at her somewhat rude remark and flushed a little from embarassment.

"Oi Kruger, you flirt! Pass the ball." 'Kruger' walked away, grumbling about how 'rude' and something else about how she wanted a taco.

"She's one to talk about being rude." Shizuru frowned and turned to face Aoi.

"Well, Shizu-chan, she was polite about it..."

Shizuru gave Aoi an amused look.

"Someone's got a crush." Shizuru poked her cheek.

Aoi flared red and pouted, "Well she was really nice..."

"Nicer than Mikoto-san?" Shizuru teased Aoi with her last crush, Mikoto Minagi.

Aoi stuck her tongue out.

"Ara, Aoi-chu must have a thing for dark haired sporty people?" Aoi gave Shizuru a half-hearted glare, and turned her head to watch Natsuki playing football with some other kids they didn't recognize.

They were in Grade 5, they were only 10 year olds, and Aoi was already thinking about who she would marry.

Shizuru for her part didn't care that much, she preferred to be more carefree of her future and her method of dealing with things was with whatever comes her way. She was too young to think about getting married.

"Ne, Aoi," Shizuru leaned on the grass and stretched her limbs.

"Hmm?" Aoi replied while lying on her stomach, continuing to watch the blue haired girl from the distance and opening a can of coke for herself.

"You would be perfect with my sister."

This comment caused Aoi to forget about her new crush (and her lovely hair in the sun), to turn to Shizuru and choke on some of her coke.

Shizuru giggled as Aoi turned red, thinking of Shizuru's sister. Coincidentally, her first crush EVER.

"Well," Shizuru giggled, and reasoned with her friend, "She has dark hair and is athletic..."

Aoi pinched Shizuru's side as she continued giggling.

Chie Viola, the older sister of Shizuru Viola.

You see...

In grade 1, Aoi had gone to Shizuru's home one day and was acquainted with the sister of Shizuru for the first time.

Chie, unlike Shizuru, went to boarding school in another city that gave her a scholarship (even though she didn't need it since she was really wealthy) for her basketball skills. The school went from grades 6 to 12, and Chie had been going since grade 6. She was now in Grade 7, two years older than Shizuru and Aoi.

Back to the now...

They spent the next 30 minutes comfortable in each other's company, occasional conversation about school and such.

"Hey, Shizuru, let's get something to eat soon, I'm starving."

"Hmm, I think my tummy's getting there..."

Aoi sat up, "let's go to my house, and then we can get ready and go for a nice night out!"

Aoi was in the mood for a little fun. Well, as fifth graders, they always wanted fun.

That's right; they are fifth graders going for a nice night out. Oh the beauty of being a rich child with privileges.

"Okay, can I borrow your purple sundress?" Shizuru asked with hope. She loved that dress!

"Yes yes, but I want to wear your white and pink one!"

"Which white and pink one?" Shizuru had lots of dresses after all...

"The one your mom got you for that dinner last week, but you never wore it."

Shizuru and Aoi went to Aoi's house, considering they treated each other's houses like their own.

"Hey mom, Shizuru and I were planning on going out tonight."

Aoi saw her mother doing some work in her office.

"Oh, actually I was waiting for you girls, I was hoping you could wait an hour and accompany me to dinner tonight?"

Aoi and Shizuru made eye contact and shrugged. As long as they could dress up for fun and eat something substantial. They were rather hungry, but they would wait an hour considering Aoi wanted to spend some time with her mother, and Shizuru knew that.

Shizuru grinned and looked at Aoi's mother, "Mrs. Senoh, Aoi saw someone she liked today."

Aoi blushed and smacked Shizuru on the side, while Mrs. Senoh laughed at her daughter and practically other daughter.

Aoi chased Shizuru up the stairs of her mansion to the room, intent on getting some revenge for that.

Mrs. Senoh smiled, she was happy for her daughter to have such a good friend. She would try to find out about her 'crush' later tonight. In the meantime, she had more paperwork.

"A-aoi! Stop it! I'm sorry" Shizuru spoke between laughter as Aoi tickled her mercilessly.

"Mou, Shizuru," Aoi stopped the tickling and got off her large bed with pink sheets. "Now mom's going to inquire about it later."

Shizuru slowly stopped giggling before going to use Aoi's personal bathroom.

Aoi sometimes was just simply grateful for Shizuru; the only reason (even if Shizuru wouldn't admit it) she had said that to Aoi's mom was because of the laughter she got after. Aoi's mom was too stressed sometimes, especially about work, considering she was a single mother working hard.

Shizuru herself had two moms, and they were also hard workers to provide for their children, but they were much more relaxed compared to Mrs. Senoh.

"Thanks Shizuru." Aoi whispered to bathroom door, she didn't know what she would do without her best friend sometimes.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Natsuki groaned in annoyance as she sat at the table reserved for 'kids' to sit at.

She had been dragged to this business dinner event of some sort by her fathers, and it was troublesome.

Her spirits lifted when a couple of other familiar faces came to view.

"Yo Kruger." Nao waved to her buddy and sat next to her.

"How lame is this?" whined Takeda, another buddy.

"Pretty lame." Natsuki gave him a nod and they both sat at the table.

Natsuki looked over to her fathers to see her real father start his second beer, and they had only been here for 20 minutes. Her step father looked at his husband in annoyance, which Natsuki found amusing.

"I think we'll be the only ones here tonight." Takeda sighed and placed his chin on the table in boredom.

"Yeah, I want to ditch this stupid place." Nao frowned and Natsuki chuckled at her friends.

"Me too, though I don't know about you guys, but my dad threatened no X-box." Natsuki said, shuddering at the thought of her beloved X-box leaving her side.

Nao and Takeda looked at her with disbelief and horror evident on their faces.

"Yeah, that's harsh." Nao really felt sympathy for her friend.

"I got threatened about no slumber party on Friday." Takeda sighed.

"No way!" Natsuki exclaimed, "I'm looking forward to it! That's it, no ditching for us, Takeda needs to have his slumber party."

Nao nodded with Natsuki and Takeda blushed a little from his friends enthusiasm of his monthly slumber party where they played video games and watched movies and ate junk food.

"Yeah, I wasn't threatened about losing anything, I knew you guys were coming and assumed we'd ditch, but NO WAY are we ditching if Takeda's slumber party is in question."

Takeda sheepishly smiled and rubbed his neck.

At that moment, four new faces approached the table.

Natsuki, Nao and Takeda looked at the new arrivals; there was a redhead girl, a boy younger than her, a black haired boy and a younger black haired girl.

They greeted Mai Tokiha and Reito Minagi; both were one year their seniors at their private school St. Jude's, a co-ed school that had many rich kids.

The younger boy with Mai, who also went to their school, was Mai's little brother Takumi: a year younger than them.

"Hey, I don't think you guys have met my little sister, Mikoto?" Reito's sister was a new face to them.

"Hey" Mikoto took a seat next to Takumi and sat down.

"Hey" the three friends greeted her back.

"Mikoto goes to St. Mary's" Reito explained as he pulled out a chair in a gentlemanly fashion for Mai who blushed and took the seat offered.

After a couple more minutes of friendly chatter, and a little interesting gossip, two more individuals greeted the table.

Natsuki gaped; it was the two girls from the park earlier that day. The nice one, and the rude one.

"Ara, if it isn't little Miss 'I can't throw a ball without endangering innocent bystanders'." Shizuru exclaimed at Natsuki as she took a seat on the other side of Mai, Aoi joined sitting in the last seat, coincidentally in between Natsuki and Shizuru.

Natsuki blushed while Nao and Takeda snickered, remembering their day at the park earlier. And the awesome tacos they had after.

She gave the girl a glare and earned a cheeky smile in return.

"Aoi-san, Shizuru-san" Mikoto greeted them with a smile.

Aoi blushed, very cutely, thought Natsuki. Unlike some RUDE people.

"Nice to see you here, Mikoto-san." Shizuru gave her a smile.

"Yeah, this is my brother Reito, and our good friends Takumi and Mai Tokiha." She gestured to them, all who waved and smiled in return.

Mikoto continued, "This is Aoi Senoh and Shizuru Viola, both are in my grade at school."

"Nice to meet you all." Aoi gave a smile.

Her new crush happened to show up at the dinner! And her other crush, but the new one was currently more interesting. She gave a sideways glance at Natsuki.

"I-I'm N-Natsuki." Natsuki mumbled out, introducing herself to Aoi.

Nao snickered, "I'm Nao Zhang, that's Takeda Suzushiro and that dimwit is Natsuki Kruger."

Natsuki gave her a glare and blushed, turning to Aoi and only blushing more.

"Suzushiro? You're related to Haruka Suzushiro?" Shizuru asked Takeda, who blushed from the attention.

"Y-yeah, she's my older sister." Shizuru stared in wonder. Haruka was loud, completely opposite of her brother. Not to mention they had very different hair colours.

Then again, she and Chie also had different hair colours; they were sometimes mistaken as not being sisters, unlike her and Aoi who were always mistaken as sisters.

"Yeah, Natsuki's my cousin." Takeda pointed to her.

"Ara Ara, I feel sorry for you." Shizuru said it in a mocking tone that caused some snickers and Natsuki to blush.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She demanded the brunette, to defend her pride.

"Why, it means exactly what I said." Shizuru explained patiently, causing more laughs on Natsuki's behalf.

Soon the kids were served their appetizers.

"Excuse me," Natsuki gave the waitress a really cute smile, "may I please have some mayonnaise?"

The waitress swooned and got the mayo for the unbelievably cute kid, disregarding the fact that she was sent to get a bowl of unhealthy condiment.

Everyone at the table except for Mikoto, Aoi and Shizuru, were used to Natsuki's unusual taste so they didn't care.

It actually wasn't a weird thing if she liked a little flavour to her food, they thought. Of course that changed as soon as they saw how much of the white condiment Natsuki put on her food, throughout the next few courses. Even on her DESSERT!

"One wonders how Natsuki is so slim." Shizuru mused, gaining more snickers on the table.

"Shizuru-" Natsuki was about to yell, this Viola was pissing her off.

"I'm sorry Natsuki-san," Aoi tried to suppress a giggle since Shizuru was a good teaser, but felt bad for the blue-haired girl.

Natsuki softened her tone, Aoi was so nice.

"I-it's okay," she mumbled. 'You can uh... call me Natsuki... no need for 'san,'" she flushed slightly, and anyone at the table (even Shizuru) had to admit that was cute.

Aoi blushed as well, and nodded her head, while returning Natsuki's smile.

After the dinner, the kids parted ways respectively to their own homes.

Aoi's mother found out that Aoi had the cutest little crush on Natsuki Kruger, she knew of Natsuki's parents very well and was pleased since they were respectable men. But then Shizuru had also let slip that Aoi liked Mikoto Minagi as well, another respectable family, Mrs. Senoh wondered what her daughter's love life would be like.

She chuckled to herself as Aoi and Shizuru had another sleep over at the house, regardless that it was a school night. Her daughter was growing up, and would soon discover the romantic side of it.

That was how the kids met, and as the years went by they would all become an exclusive group.

The group that was gossiped the most about, the group that everyone wanted to be a part of, or at least know everything about.

Who ends up with who? But more importantly, how do they get there?


	3. Chapter 2: This is How We Part

This is where the love drama starts everyone! It skipped quite a few years.

Chapter 2: Later Days

Aoi Senoh was mad.

She was mad because her girlfriend was too hung over that morning to go out for coffee, she was mad because her stupid mother was having a stupid dinner party, but she was the most mad because her best friend since kindergarten left last year suddenly without saying goodbye, only to send her a postcard she got last night explaining she was coming back.

She was mad.

Shizuru just left last year without telling anybody! Aoi had been worried sick about her for a whole year, and all Shizuru could do was send her a damn _postcard_?!

She wanted to know how her friend was; the year had been absolutely terrible without her best friend to be by her side.

Aoi understood of course, after all Shizuru's mother passed away that summer and she probably wanted to get away from all the sympathetic people.

"Aoi," Aoi turned to see her girlfriend walk up to her, "are you okay?"

Aoi sighed; Natsuki could be such a sweetheart.

"Yeah, I just..."

She leaned into Natsuki a bit; glad to see her girlfriend was wearing the dark blue sweater she bought for her birthday last month.

"Mom was being such a bitch this morning," Aoi finally said with a frown.

"Hey guys," Reito and Nao walked up, ending their conversation.

"Is it true?" Nao asked Aoi, "Viola is coming back tonight?"

Aoi nodded, affirming the rumour.

She felt Natsuki tense beside her.

This was another reason she was mad.

When Shizuru and Aoi had met Natsuki Kruger in the fifth grade, Natsuki and Shizuru always had an unspoken 'thing' between them that _everyone_ could see.

And when Aoi looked towards Nao, Natsuki's best friend, she saw a small understanding in those lime eyes and it made her only a little bit jealous.

Natsuki was her girlfriend of four years, since high school started. They had been on and off since, the last breakup was when Natsuki cheated on her by making out at a party with a freshman.

But now they were all in their final year of high school, and Aoi hated how Natsuki still tensed whenever Shizuru's name was mentioned.

Natsuki was the daughter of two well-established business men, and she just assumed they were always going to be together and get married.

It was picture perfect.

It was then and there Aoi made a decision. She should tell Natsuki she was ready to finally have sex.

"Natsuki, can we talk for a minute?" Natsuki nodded and followed Aoi down the hallway; they ignored Reito and Nao who whistled at them.

Unfortunately, Aoi's mother then chose to call her over.

"Aoi dear, I would like you to meet Mr. Sayu for a minute." She had to comply.

At the same time, Natsuki was called over by her cousin, Takeda.

Aoi sighed, greeting Mr. Sayu with politeness as Natsuki approached her cousin.

"Yeah?" Natsuki asked.

"Your dad wanted me to give you your phone," Takeda said, handing the device to her.

"Ah shit," Natsuki muttered, "I forgot it again."

Takeda grinned, "Hey you've been going out with Aoi for a long time, right?"

Natsuki nodded, "yeah..."

"Have you slept with her yet?" Takeda asked.

Natsuki turned redder than the upholstery on the 18th century French chaise next to her.

"W-what?"

Takeda blushed himself but coughed it off.

"Well," he sighed, "last night... me and Yuuichi..."

Natsuki turned even redder. Too much information.

"oh... well no, Aoi and I haven't... yet.'

"Oh..." Takeda said looking absolutely embarrassed.

"Natsuki," Natsuki turned to see Aoi wave her over.

"Catch you later Takeda," Natsuki said to her cousin.

"Peace," Takeda lightly tapped her arm before turning away from her.

Aoi grabbed Natsuki's hand and took them down the hallway and up the stairs to her furnished room.

Once in the room, Aoi kissed her girlfriend who seemed surprised but gave in after a while.

Truth is, Aoi was ready.

Last weekend Aoi, Natsuki, Nao, Reito, Takeda and Yuuichi had gone on a small road trip to a hotel.

Aoi had found herself in a position like this where she was making out heatedly with Natsuki. Things got heated and then Aoi broke off because things were going too far.

Now, things weren't going far enough for her.

She pulled Natsuki in and they tumbled onto her large four poster bed.

_I'm about to have sex with my hot girlfriend_ she thought giddily.

Sure, it was probably reckless to want to lose your virginity when you had a house full of guests but... Aoi had quite a bit of wine.

She brushed her tongue on Natsuki's lip, and all was okay until the voice of her mother echoed upstairs.

"Shizuru Viola! What a lovely surprise!"

Natsuki stopped Aoi's hand and straightened up like a soldier called to attention.

Aoi sat up and held her breath in. She looked up at Natsuki, but Natsuki had already turned for the door and headed back down to see if it was the truth.

Had Shizuru Viola really come back from no where?

Aoi quickly followed Natsuki's lead and almost ran down the steps, where she saw Mrs. Viola and her daughter smiling from the doorway.

"Shizuru!" Aoi spoke out over everyone and ran up to her friend who greeted her in a warm hug.

"Aoi," Shizuru hugged her back.

It felt nice to hug your sister after so long.

People started talking again, and Aoi rushed Shizuru over to sit down at a table for privacy.

Her eyes started to sting with tears, "I can't believe you're back."

Shizuru's red yes flashed sad before she smiled gently, "I'm back. And I'm sorry for leaving like that..."

Aoi wiped her eyes and smiled, "you're forgiven."

They both giggled, starting to talk as if they had never been separated in the first place.

"Shizuru and Aoi are best, best, best friends," Aoi's mother explained to everyone at their interaction, "They haven't seen each other in a while you see."

()()()

It was only a day and Aoi held a party to welcome Shizuru back.

It was going extremely well, music pumping and vibrating the mansion.

She couldn't take her eyes away, ever since she first saw her.

Natsuki Kruger fell in love with her since the first time she looked into those red eyes.

She watched as Shizuru continued to hold hands with Aoi and giggle, other kids and old friends of hers approached and they all talked.

But Natsuki just watched her from the side, analyzing the beauty like she would no other.

That smile. Those eyes. That face.

Natsuki was looking directly at her, and then Shizuru felt that gaze and lifted her eyes up.

When their gazes met, Natsuki bit her bottom lip the way she always did when embarrassed.

But she pushed herself off the wall and approached the group, everyone going silent as she walked up save for the pumping hip hop in the speakers.

"Hey you," Shizuru said as Natsuki was close enough to hear her voice.

Natsuki took a seat in between her and Aoi, offering a small smile, "hey.'

Shizuru took a breath in, and she almost sighed in happiness at the smell Natsuki emitted, she smelt like she always smelt.

Like the cleanest most delicious girl alive.

If she wasn't so composed, Shizuru would have cried at the familiar warmth of Natsuki near her.

Now she really was home.

Natsuki's cheeks turned pink. _Calm down _she told herself. But she couldn't' calm down.

She felt like picking Shizuru up and twirling her around, and kissing her over and over. She wanted to shout 'I Love you!' at the top of her lungs.

But she didn't. She couldn't.

"So," Natsuki spoke through the slightly awkward silence, "what have you been up to?"

Shizuru's eyes glinted in a way that everyone knew would result in Kruger blushing.

"What have I been up to?" She repeated before giggling, "Ara, if only you knew Natsuki. I've been so, so bad."

The blush came, but it was followed by a flash of anger in those green eyes.

"Bad?" Natsuki said, squeezing her fist, "aren't you always?" It was said with bitterness.

Aoi touched a hand to Natsuki's shoulder to calm her down and everyone went silent.

Alcohol always magnified emotions. And they all were past tipsy.

But when Shizuru saw Aoi touch Natsuki with that affection, she got jealous and her own eyes flashed anger.

"What difference does it make to _you_?" Shizuru said back with a slight frown.

Natsuki shot her a glare, "you're being childish," Natsuki said finally.

Shizuru laughed a mirthless laugh, lowering her voice, "childish?"

"Stop it you two," Aoi finally said with a small whisper. "Shizuru just got back, Natsuki."

Natsuki stood up, "well she should just go back then!"

They all went silent; Natsuki was being incredibly scary right now.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?!" she practically yelled.

Shizuru stood up to face the challenge, "believe me, I had no intention of _not_ doing so."

Natsuki clenched her fists, "why do you do this to me?" she said without raising her voice.

Shizuru was taken aback, "do what?"

"This!"

Natsuki threw her beer bottle on the ground in frustration and she just walked off, pushing some people out of her way.

Aoi rushed after her girlfriend and yelled for her to stop.

"Natsuki," Aoi said once they were outside, "Natsuki, wait!"

Natsuki felt the tug on her shoulder, and she pulled Aoi into an embrace underneath an oak tree.

Aoi yelped in surprise but she rubbed Natsuki's back gently to calm her down.

They were both drunk, but Natsuki was wasted. She reeked of alcohol right now.

They kissed, and Aoi felt herself being pushed back into a tree, she didn't feel the pain as much from her intoxication, but giggled when Natsuki growled into her ear.

"Are you okay now?" She asked, threading her fingers through Natsuki's hair.

Then she felt tears hit her cheeks, "why?" Natsuki whispered kissing her neck.

"Natsuki?"

"Why, Shizuru?"

()()()

_Why, Shizuru?_

Aoi shook her head and tried to forget about how pathetic Natsuki had sounded when she said that last night.

How desperate.

She looked to her left and groaned at her headache, but Shizuru was still fast asleep.

Aoi sighed; she really needed to talk to Shizuru today about that mess up, to clarify what Shizuru and Natsuki were to each other.

The party last night really made her realise things she should have sooner.

She was jealous that Natsuki was so obviously in love with Shizuru, but when she thought about it she felt silly for having never realised it before.

She knew they had always been attracted to each other, but now she knew it was more than just attraction.

Natsuki was one of her closest friends, apart from being her girlfriend and Aoi cared for her.

Shizuru was like her sister, more important than Natsuki was to her, and if Shizuru wanted Natsuki she could have her.

But why had Shizuru never said anything?

She heard a yawn and giggled at Shizuru who looked rather cute with bed hair.

"Shut up Aoi," Shizuru giggled out and sat up.

Only Aoi could see Shizuru this way, and then she realised another thing.

Ever since they met, Natsuki always saw the real Shizuru, not the facade one.

Aoi felt like crying, how could she steal the only possibility of Shizuru being with someone who would treat her with love and care?

()()()()

It was a test, although Natsuki didn't know that.

Natsuki just wanted to forget.

She wanted to not be in love with Shizuru Viola.

So after a date to Rico's bar and grill, Natsuki went back to Aoi's place and started making out in her bedroom.

It started off slow; Aoi nestled into her lap and bit her ear.

Their tongues battled next, and they started to go faster than usual.

With Aoi's shirt off and Natsuki's in the process of being removed, they were now as far as they had ever gone before.

And Natsuki had her. She had Aoi underneath her half-naked, and Aoi clearly was encouraging her to move on.

But it felt wrong.

She stopped and stared beneath her.

No matter how much she wiled those eyes to turn from blue to the most enchanting red, or how much she desired the brown hair to be just a shade lighter, Aoi just wasn't Shizuru.

And Natsuki had fooled herself all the years she used Aoi to get over Shizuru.

Aoi was torn.

The selfish part of her wanted Natsuki to continue, because that would mean she was chosen. But the clarity in Natsuki's eyes proved to her that she wasn't the one Natsuki loved.

"What's wrong?" Aoi probed, she wanted to know just how true Natsuki's feelings fro Shizuru went.

"I... can't..." Natsuki said slowly, almost guiltily.

Aoi moved up to kiss her gently on the lips, she felt no resistance but no encouragement either.

"Why not?" Aoi suddenly felt bare before her girlfriend, if they still were girlfriends anyway.

Natsuki sat up and looked away, picking her discarded shirt from the floor and pulling on top of her navy bra.

Aoi just grabbed her night robe and wrapped it tightly around her slim frame.

"I..." Natsuki broke off.

"We've been going out for years," Aoi reasoned. She really just wanted Natsuki to tell her once and for all that she loved Shizuru, because then this would be less nerving.

"But it's not fair on you," Natsuki said softly.

_Finally_ Aoi thought. Sure Aoi had assumed she would always be with Natsuki, and her heart was breaking, but Shizuru was so much more to her than Natsuki ever was.

"How?"

An eerie silence.

Aoi expected Natsuki to say she had feelings fro someone else.

Aoi expected Natsuki to say she should wait to lose her virginity to someone else.

Aoi expected Natsuki to ask fro forgiveness and leave.

Aoi _did_ not expect to hear Natsuki say, "I'm not a virgin."

What?

"What?!"

"I'm sorry..." Natsuki said looking at her hands.

Despite being in love with Shizuru, Natsuki still cared fro Aoi a lot. She didn't want to hurt her, but the truth was necessary.

"When? How? Where?" She was angry.

"Last summer," Natsuki quietly. "To... Shizuru."

She felt a hard slap on her face.

The silence was awkward.

"You..." Aoi started with a croaked voice.

"I'm sorry," Natsuki offered again, and she was genuinely sorry.

**A/N **So, how was that? The next chapter will be how shiznat lost their virginity, look forward to it :D


	4. Chapter 3: This is How We Fucked

**A/N **I agree, poor Aoi, but hopefully this redeems the circumstance, please enjoy this chapter :D

Chapter 3: Between Days

Sorry.

Natsuki felt pathetic. All she could say to Aoi was that she was _sorry_.

There was a creak as she got up from the bed, feeling hopeless.

Aoi got up after she heard Natsuki's steps go downstairs. She discarded her night gown and grabbed a pair of her tightest jeans.

She also grabbed a tube top and put on high heels, her anger doubled when she realised these were the clothes she wore the weekend she and Natsuki almost had sex.

Stomping through her mansion, she heard her cellphone ring and wanted to throw it at the wall when she read the caller ID: Shizuru.

She exited the mansion.

She felt betrayed.

Sure, she knew Natsuki always loved Shizuru, and Shizuru was probably in love with Natsuki, but the fact that they had had sex behind her back was enough to make anyone feel betrayed.

Especially when one of them was like your sister, the person you told everything to.

Why couldn't Shizuru have confessed?

Shizuru confessed that time in ninth grade to stealing her bag of Doritos, Shizuru confessed to so much as borrowing a top from Aoi. Shizuru confessed to any wrong she ever did, and she never wronged.

And none of those things ever bothered Aoi.

This was _virginity_.

This was the thing Shizuru and Aoi had stayed up late into the night talking about with giggles.

Shizuru had always said she would save herself for the special moment.

_Way to save yourself for the special moment_, Aoi thought bitterly while walking down a few blocks in the chilly night air.

She hailed a cab and ordered to go downtown.

So what if it was one in the morning and she was technically underage? She wanted to forget that this had ever happened.

She had not been this upset when Natsuki made out with that freshmen, that was easily forgivable after a while. And Natsuki easily forgave her for that brief time last year she dated Mikoto.

But _this_? This was _sex_.

This wasn't just a kiss; this was sealing the whole deal.

Paying the cab driver she walked over into a bar that seemed like a good choice because of all the noise it was producing.

Lucky for her, the bartender offered a flirtatious smile instead of carding her, and a free drink.

She looked at her cell and noticed it had 7 missed calls from Shizuru.

The only time her phone ever showed missed calls from her best friend was when she had lost it.

Downing a shot of whatever the bartender sent her way, it came back to her.

A year.

A whole year of not talking to Shizuru, and in less than a week of her coming back Aoi finds out she betrayed her.

"Bitch," she muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" A voice beside her asked rather amusedly.

Aoi turned to the person on her left and raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't talking to you."

Okay, maybe she said it a little harsher than she intended.

"Hey, sorry," the female offered, "I didn't mean to piss you off."

"Well you did," Aoi sighed into her hand.

She ignored the bartender who winked at her.

He had green eyes similar to Natsuki's...

"Bad day?"

"Very bad." And you are making it worse, she wanted to add.

"Want to dance?"

Of all the follow-up questions to ask!

"What?"

"Want to dance? You know, as in music and bodies moving along..."

"I know what dancing is."

"Great. Want to do it?"

Aoi turned to the stranger and fully looked at them.

A very... handsome, kind of sexy and seemingly older boyish female.

Something about them seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Do I know you?"

"Don't think so."

"Huh," she turned back to her drink and swirled it around.

"Why not," Aoi said after a while and followed the person onto the dance floor.

She was pulled in by the hips and simply swayed along to the music.

She just wanted to forget.

()()()

She just wanted to forget.

It was eight at night, but the summer heat made it nice outside.

Shizuru Viola sat underneath the tree she affectionately called 'Bogo' as long as she could remember. The days she would sit with Aoi underneath this very tree and watch the people around them or just talk about anything, those days seemed long gone.

Her mother was dead.

She found out about seven minutes ago.

Her mother who would take time off of work to take her shopping. Her mother who would brew the best tea ever known to mankind.

Her mother who gave birth to her, her mother who brought light into her other mother's hectic life.

The core of happiness in her home was gone.

All because of a car crash.

And that stupid drunk driver.

Hands were over her eyes again as she wept into them and an hour gone by quickly.

"Shizuru?"

She wiped her tears away at the voice.

That angelic voice.

"Natsuki."

"Um," Natsuki walked over to the tree and squinted into the darkness, "what are you doing here?"

"Nothing," she really wanted to be left alone.

"You never showed up at the Suzushiro's."

"So?" Shizuru couldn't help herself from taking her anger out on something.

"Heh," Natsuki plopped down ignoring her bitter tone, "its midnight and you're sitting under a tree in the park."

"What are you doing here?" Shizuru asked back.

She was starting to forget.

"I just needed to get out of there," Natsuki couldn't see Shizuru's tired and red eyes in the darkness, but was suspicious of the restlessness she felt .

"Aoi and Mikoto?"

"Aoi and Mikoto," Natsuki agreed.

Shizuru felt strangely insignificant and leaned back on the tree as Natsuki was doing.

"You never answered my question."

"I just needed to get out too," Shizuru said, another tear falling down her cheek.

"Shizuru?" Natsuki could feel something was wrong. "Oi, what's wrong?"

There was no response.

"Idiot, since when do you cry?" Natsuki made the mistake of putting a hand on Shizuru's own.

"Since when do you care?" Shizuru shot back.

"What?" Natsuki was taken aback, "I care for you!"

Shizuru didn't believe it, didn't _want_ to believe it.

"Leave me alone Natsuki."

"No," Natsuki firmly stressed. "What the hell is your problem? Can't you accept help?"

Shizuru stood up, "accept help? Since when do you ever help?"

Natsuki was angry and stood up as well.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

Shizuru just wanted to forget. Natsuki was helping her, and she just wanted to get her frustration out.

"You, Natsuki! You think you're helping Aoi by being here trying to win me over?"

Natsuki froze. And so did Shizuru.

It was an unspoken truth.

But Natsuki moved forward and grabbed Shizuru's arm, spinning her back into 'Bogo' with a small force.

"I," her anger was cut off because Natsuki didn't know what to say after.

'I' what?

Who was to blame for what happened next?

Neither Natsuki nor Shizuru knew who moved first, but their lips were connected and they were moaning without wanting to stop.

Shizuru forgot.

They rolled on the grass, rapidly undressing each other and continuing.

Natsuki just couldn't stop. Her heart won over her mind and she was rocking in the heat without common sense.

Shizuru had that ability over her, the ability to rob her of her coherency.

And Shizuru was too far in to come out.

She was forgetting everything; all she knew was that this felt nice and that her world was okay for the moment.

Their kisses were frantic, demanding. Hands all over each other and hair tugged to tangles.

It was getting hot, and their movements scared a squirrel in 'Bogo'.

'Bogo' was where Natsuki and Shizuru first met, that day in the fifth grade. It was now the mark of something irreversible.

When it was over, their clumsiness was forgotten as they wondered what to do next.

And Natsuki felt pathetic as the woman of her dreams slowly came out of the aftermath only to sob and quickly put her clothes back on to run away without a word.

And the next morning Shizuru Viola just left the city.

She left to get away, to forget.

But it never really worked.

The guilt was still there.

Natsuki felt heartbroken that Shizuru would just leave like that, but when she found out Shizuru's mother had died, she felt even guiltier.

She felt at fault for everything.

And Aoi came back to her and she knew Shizuru wanted to forget, so all Natsuki could do was pretend it never happened.

For Shizuru.

Shizuru who wanted to call her best friend every day to talk, to have someone listen to her like no one else could about her problem, was too afraid.

She was afraid, guilty and hurt.

She had betrayed her best friend, and the idea of getting that same friend to help her was immoral.

And her mother wasn't there to hug her and soothe her worries, or to give advice.

Her other mother was reduced to a workaholic after the death, and her sister joined her for a week in England before going back to school.

It wasn't fair.

She just... wanted to forget.

()()()()

Aoi's head hurt first that morning.

Then she looked in confusion at where she was.

She wasn't in her bedroom, or Shizuru's bedroom.

Where was she?

A... a motel?

She turned to find a figure laying next to her.

And they were both naked.

"What the fuck?"

She voiced out her confusion, but at that moment everything came back to her.

The drinking at the bar after... after she found out Natsuki and Shizuru had sex behind her back.

Then she danced with an attractive stranger and... _oh god!_

The figure groaned.

Aoi held the covers over her naked body; she was starting to remember the cab drive to the motel.

She made out with someone in the back of a cab?

And then the undressing and rough hands that trailed her naked body.

Oh shit, she lost her virginity in a dingy motel to a complete stranger while she was in a bad mood and drunk?

The images shot through her mind and she could only jump out of the sheets to grab her thrown clothes and purse.

17 missed calls from Shizuru.

She was feeling nauseous; she really had quite a bit to drink last night.

She didn't want to look at the face of who stole her precious innocence, she felt stupid and reckless. They were probably just some good-looking low-class worker looking to get lucky by taking advantage of an innocent young maiden such as herself.

She slammed the door, hoping it would wake them up.

She just wanted to forget.


	5. Chapter 4: This is How We Start

Chapter 4: Freshmen Days.

"It wasn't so bad," Shizuru mused out loud as she and Aoi sipped tea at a local cafe.

"Really? You mean to say you weren't annoyed at all with the people who asked you out?" Aoi sarcastically commented as Shizuru just rolled her eyes.

"No, really! It was what... 6 people Shizuru?" Shizuru giggled with Aoi now.

"Yes, but Aoi-chu forgets she herself had 4."

Aoi sighed, "Yeah... but high school will be fun. The first day, other than the girls asking us out, was pretty good."

"Ara, you have to admit you liked getting asked out."

Aoi blushed and gave Shizuru a small glare to which she winked and sipped her tea.

"Mou, Shiz! (sigh) What did you tell them? I myself just said 'maybe another time?' as sweetly as I could."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe another time? Aoi, you have Mikoto and Natsuki you know."

Aoi bit her lip and stared at Shizuru. True, she had Mikoto and Natsuki, but they were just friends. Really attractive friends who she... liked.

A lot.

Okay, maybe more than a lot...

"Shizuru, what about you? You and Natsuki..."

Shizuru sighed, "Me and Natsuki _nothing_."

A lie.

A lie because Aoi liked Natsuki too.

Shizuru told herself that the strange feelings she got from being around Natsuki were just temporary, nothing serious.

They'd go away.

But Aoi liked Natsuki since the fifth grade, openly.

"I... I said yes to everyone who asked me out today," Shizuru met Aoi's eyes.

Aoi's jaw dropped.

"You did? That's six dates!"

Shizuru giggled, "Seven, actually."

Aoi sighed at her grinning friend.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Natsuki collapsed onto the grass next to her gym bag along with Nao.

"Fuck, that tryout was a bitch." Nao complained as she drank some water.

"Yeah," Natsuki took a deep breath, "but you and I are guaranteed a spot on the team. We practically owned the field." Nao and Natsuki pounded fists and stretched out.

It was true though, she hadn't said it to boast. The high school soccer team had _begged_ them to come.

"First day of high school, its okay," Nao commented as she took off her cleats.

"Yeah... So, what are your plans tonight?"

"Nothing till 6, I'm going to dinner and a movie with that guy I met last weekend."

Natsuki sighed. "Fine, I guess I'll see what Aoi and Shizuru are up to."

"Oooh! Kruger, you _dog_! Two ladies at once?" Nao put a hand to her mouth to mock laugh, but winced when Natsuki kicked her shin.

"Shut up! You know it's not like that..." Natsuki frowned and stood up, followed by Nao.

"I know, I'm just teasing." Nao laughed inside her head now, afraid of another kick to her shin.

"Kruger!" Two seniors that Natsuki didn't know, one boy and one girl, were sprinting towards her.

Natsuki was confused as they both stood up, blushing slightly and panting from running. They appeared to be on the lacrosse team since they came from that direction.

"Kruger, go out with me!" The man said it so bluntly and loudly, causing Natsuki to blush and Nao to try really hard to not burst out laughing.

"No!" The girl exclaimed, "I saw her first! Go out with me, Kruger-chan." The girl gave her a charming smile.

Nao lost it; she laughed and held her stomach, while Natsuki grew even redder and redder.

()()()

Just like Nao earlier that day, Natsuki was faced with more laughter to her expense as Aoi and Shizuru held their stomachs after listening to her story.

"Ara, Natsuki, I actually feel a little sorry for you!" Shizuru slowed down her laughter with Aoi.

Natsuki was red in the face once again, "Shizuru..." she grumbled, the teasing was a norm she had grown accustomed to from her friend since they met.

"Awww, poor Natsuki-chan! What did you say to them?" Aoi inquired still giggling but with a reserve in her eyes.

Shizuru looked at her with an amused expression, even though inside she was praying Natsuki rejected.

"Nothing...I just ran away. Nao wouldn't stop laughing either so I had to chase her." Natsuki jumped onto Aoi's bed.

She had come over to Aoi's place after her tryout to hang out and talk with them.

"Shizuru had seven people ask her out today."Aoi giggled and almost stopped when she saw a flash of anger in Natsuki's eyes.

She was jealous...

"Ara," Shizuru giggled, "Aoi herself had three."

Shizuru was now rummaging through Aoi's closet for some clothes. Considering she had seven beautiful girls ask her out today, she was set for the month on dates.

Picking up a blouse, she noticed Aoi blush from the corner of her eye when Natsuki gave her a wink.

She was split with emotions.

Shizuru was jealous that Natsuki was flirting with Aoi but happy for Aoi because she liked Natsuki.

In her mind, Natsuki was a good person, one of the few she would let Aoi near. She was protective of her best friend after all, and didn't' know Mikoto well enough to judge.

"I have a feeling Mikoto might ask me out officially," Aoi said after the wink.

Now she shared a knowing smile with Shizuru.

Aoi liked Natsuki more than Mikoto, and wanted to be more than 'friends-who-made-out-at-parties-when-drunk.'

Natsuki frowned, she and Mikoto were the best soccer players on rival school teams over the years, and they got along, but always had a rivalry.

"Mou, Aoi, I'm hurt." Aoi giggled at Natsuki's playfulness.

They knew Natsuki usually only dated her to rival Mikoto, but you can't blame a girl for wanting herself some attention from someone as gorgeous as Natsuki.

"Aoi, what should I wear tonight?" Shizuru gave up on her own choice; she could always count on Aoi to choose good clothes for her.

"Well, since you guys are going to dinner, wear something dressy casual."

She had gotten Natsuki's attention.

"You...have a date tonight?" Natsuki wasn't as good as Shizuru when it came to hiding her emotions.

Shizuru was delighted with the reaction although she didn't show it.

"So Aoi..." Natsuki tried to pretend she didn't care, "guess it's you and me tonight?"

Aoi giggled, "Yes Natsuki, you wouldn't' be trying to change my mind about Mikoto, would you?"

Natsuki blushed at the accusation; she looked adorable, thought Shizuru and Aoi.

"Whatever. Have a nice _date_ Shizuru, and I'll come by later to pick you up Aoi, I'm going home for a bit."

It was weird.

Natsuki liked Shizuru a lot, but never admitted to it, so she kept it a secret. Shizuru always hinted she should go out with Aoi, and Natsuki saw this like a rejection.

Shizuru liked Natsuki, but she wouldn't do anything about it because Aoi liked Natsuki too. And Shizuru still believed relationships were overrated, her pride would never let her commit.

And Aoi liked Natsuki the most out of all her choices, she wanted to be official. Natsuki was hot, athletic, deceptively smart, and nice. Who wouldn't want to be official with her?

()()()()()

"_Shiz!"_ The unmistakable voice of Chie Viola excitedly picked up the phone.

"Chie!" She giggled, and plopped herself on the couch.

"_How's my little sis doing? I miss you!"_

"Aw, aren't you sweet! I miss you too." Shizuru smiled wider when her sister chuckled.

"_Really now? Anyways, you missed me earlier when I called and mom said you were on a date... who is the person that dared touch my sister?"_Chie teased and Shizuru giggled, it was nice to talk to her.

"Somouya Clochette... or something like that."

"_Oh yeah, I know of her... isn't she a senior? My my Shizuru, you have a thing for elders?"_

Shizuru pouted, "If you must know, she was of the _seven_ hotties who asked me out today." Shizuru bragged with a grin.

"_Oh, really? I hope you don't get burned by their hotness."_

"Chie!"

"_Is that a blush?"_

Shizuru frowned, and indeed she was blushing.

"_And please tell me you didn't kiss the senior on the first date." _

Shizuru giggled, "Ara, yes I did kiss her, but only on the cheek. She seemed upset about that however."

She could tell her sister grinned on the other side of the line.

"_That's my sister!"_

"But Chie, You always kiss on your first dates."

"_..."_

Shizuru rolled her eyes.

"So tell me, how was your first day at school?"

There was a pause as Chie hummed in thought.

"_Meh, it wasn't special, I told mama but I might as well tell you too, today I gave out 14 roses. I'm making my way to her record of 27."_

Shizuru rolled her eyes again, but her smile deceived her annoyance. Her sister Chie always flirted shamelessly with girls and gave out roses all the time, a quirk their older mother used to do when in school. Chie really was her child.

But come on, 14? On the first day of school?

The flirt.

"Ara, I only got asked out 7 times and no one gave me a rose." Shizuru pouted playfully.

The rest of their conversation was mostly filling each other in on their private gossip and joking about a movie they had both seen recently.

()()()()()()

Grade nine went by smoothly for a few months; however, the much anticipated league soccer game between St. Jude's and St. Mary's was coming up that Friday at St. Jude's school, and there was an after party between the schools at the Minagi house.

Whenever there were games between the rival schools, there was always a party, and despite the rivalry, the school had many friendships between students.

The Minagi family was hosting the after party because Reito Minagi was captain of the St. Jude's soccer team, and his sister Mikoto was a starting player on the St. Mary's team. St. Jude's was co-ed, but the girls on St. Mary's were very skilled, and gender was never an issue in sports.

Elsewhere, Aoi and Shizuru made their way to St. Jude's to watch the game.

Shizuru wanted to see Natsuki play because Aoi always mentioned how talented Natsuki and Nao were on the field. The two were called the 'freshman duo' because they played in sync together on the field. Rumour was that the next year they would take over as captains in their sophomore year. That was pretty impressive.

Shizuru secretly liked how Natsuki never boasted or bragged about things she did. Everyone knew she was a good soccer player, but she rarely talked about it. The most she ever discussed about it was 'oh I had practice today,' or 'I'm tired, soccer was tough.'

She giggled when Aoi linked their arms and excitedly told her how anxious she was for the party tonight, and especially about seeing Natsuki later.

Shizuru forced herself to stop thinking about Natsuki, and gave her full attention to Aoi, coming up with a few outfits to catch the blue-haired beauty's eye.

Natsuki was always focused on soccer, she did her warm-up with Nao, and started passing the ball around. Nao and Natsuki had a group of fans that always cheered for them at games and a majority had crushes on them as well. Today they had signs written with things like 'fresh duo', 'double N's' and other things to promote them.

She rolled her neck and tried to loosen her nerves. It was the first game against St. Mary's of the school year, it was an important game

Looking up, she saw Shizuru and Aoi in the stands; Shizuru had never come to a game before...

She was snapped from her stare as a ball hit her head.

"Oi, Kruger! Pay attention." Nao looked upset, and she had every right to be. Natsuki and Nao were a team that needed to work together in the game, and they both took it equally seriously and therefore had to concentrate.

"Look, Natsuki," she walked over and sat next to her, "I know how badly you want to win, but you can't do that if your mind's somewhere else."

Natsuki sighed and nodded her head. Nao was right. Getting helped onto her feet by her friend, she gave her a grin and they both laughed.

At that moment, she made a quick glance back to her friends, this time catching their gazes and waving.

Nao looked over her shoulder and gave a wave of her own before turning back to Natsuki.

Shizuru giggled when she saw Nao slap Natsuki to stop her from waving at them and continue warming up.

As if on cue, Mikoto came running up to them and smiled, "hey, Aoi," she leaned on the railing of the seats.

"Thanks for coming."

Aoi smiled at her and nodded, "No problem. Good luck Mikoto."

"Thanks." As soon as she said it, someone from Mikoto's team called her in for a team huddle.

Both teams were in circles talking with their coaches now, and Shizuru couldn't help herself from watching Natsuki.

Her hair was so pretty when it blew in the wind...

Shizuru averted her gaze to the St. Mary's team when she realized Natsuki was heading in their direction.

"Natsuki!" Aoi waved her over and Natsuki smiled as she approached them .She hopped over the rail with ease and sat down.

"Hey guys, didn't know you were coming."

"I brought Shizuru along."

Natsuki chuckled, "so, when you said you'd see me later today it wasn't only the party you talked about?" Aoi blushed from her tease.

Natsuki was called over by Reito and so she sighed before jumping back over the railing to her team.

The game started slowly at first. But it was picked up within minutes.

Natsuki was playing her game good, and Nao was happy that she was focused. It must be because today she was playing to impress.

Natsuki and Nao were playing striker positions at the moment. Natsuki stole the ball from the other team and promptly did a really cool spin move before literally kicking it to the other side of the field where there was open space.

This confused Shizuru for a second, but out of no where Nao sprinted to the ball and had a clear path to the goal. She took a shot and it scored.

Pumping her fist, Nao jumped up and ran to her teammates who all cheered and high fived each other. She gave Natsuki a pat on the back and whispered in her ear something that made them both laugh, and made Shizuru oddly jealous.

She ignored her jealousy.

Jealousy was not in her vocabulary.

Aoi cheered beside her.

The score was one nothing for St. Jude's at half, and Shizuru was finding this sport extremely fun to watch. Aoi explained some rules to her, not many people knew it, but Aoi loved sports, especially to watch. She watched as the captain Reito Minagi put his hands on Natsuki's shoulders and talked to her as if planning something.

So close.

_You don't get jealous _Shizuru had to tell herself.

Second half started and the teams took their positions. Shizuru looked across the field to where Mikoto waved at them and Aoi blushed while waving back.

About 20 minutes into half, the teams were starting to get more stressed about a goal. Mikoto was a very good player and almost got a few goals for St. Mary's, her brother having stopped her once, and the ball hitting the post the other time.

Natsuki got a breakaway around the sideline and it was really exciting, Shizuru found herself praying that Natsuki scored even though Natsuki was against her school.

"Go Natsuki," she yelled with Aoi as they cheered their friend on. Shizuru saw a figure running up to Natsuki, and was felling uneasy when she noticed it.

Natsuki made a move for the ball to get around the defender by faking a side, but the defender completely disregarded the ball and full out body checked her to the ground.

Ouch.

Shizuru made an uncharacteristic gasp, forcing down her sudden urge to run and hug Natsuki, to see if she was okay.

"Natsuki!" Aoi gasped and yelled out next to her.

The ref blew his whistle and produced a yellow card. Lots of spectators, mostly the annoying dynamic duo fans, yelled in anger at the defender, while some fans on St. Mary's side told the ref he was blind.

Shizuru was really impressed at Natsuki because instead of starting a fight like Shizuru was sure she was going to do, she simply got up and told the ref she was fine, brushing herself off a bit and walking it off.

But her walk had a bit of an edge, as if she was going to erupt soon. And as soon as the free kick was taken, erupt she did. She ran to exactly where Reito signalled and effortlessly trapped the ball, her fury showing as she manoeuvred around 7 St. Mary's players and got an easy goal on the goalie. Unlike Nao, she didn't pump her fists, she just ran back and high fived anyone who offered.

Nao starting jumping and came to give her another back slap, once again whispering into her ear.

There was a brief moment where Natsuki made eye contact with Shizuru, and Shizuru gave her a smile, which made Natsuki smile back, before turning away.

()()()()()()

"Did you hear?" Reito said to Mai after taking a swig of beer, "Nao dumped that guy from Alstar just outside."

"That's what happened?" Mai asked back with interest.

On the other side of the room Natsuki played around with an empty bottle in her hands, still happy over their two-nothing win earlier.

"Natsuki," Aoi approached Natsuki, putting a hand to her forearm gently.

Even Natsuki was not immune to such a mini-skirt, especially when drunk.

Hot.

"Hey beautiful," she was grinning, a blush on her cheeks.

Aoi smiled a lazy flirtatious smile; she had just done a few shots with some St. Mary's girls and was already feeling the effects.

Aoi boldly sat herself on Natsuki's lap, encircling her neck and moving towards her ear.

"Good game today, Natsuki-chan."

Natsuki swallowed a bit, "Only good?"

Aoi giggled, she put a quick kiss to Natsuki's cheek.

"Let's go dance, I haven't yet."

And they got up, completely unaware of Shizuru who noticed the whole thing from her spot dancing with some blonde.

She forced her eyes away and moved closer to them.

And they started to kiss.


	6. Chapter 5: This is How We Mislead

**A/N** A filler chapter on the circumstances natski aoi and shizuru were under when natsuki and aoi first got together

Chapter 5: Freshmen days

()()

"Ara, Aoi-chu! That's naughty!"

Aoi blushed, "I didn't mean it like _that_!"

"Didn't mean what like what?" Natsuki jumped up in between the girls and put an arm on both of their shoulders.

"Natsuki!" Aoi squeaked with a much deeper blush from her crush's sudden appearance.

Shizuru's eyes twinkled in amusement, "well Na-tsu-ki," she said with a mischievous lilt to her voice, "Aoi was just telling me how she-"

"Nothing!" Aoi glared at Shizuru and tried to cut her off.

"How she's going out of town this weekend."

Aoi's jaw dropped, and Shizuru gave her a wink and smirked.

"Oh no!" Natsuki stopped walking and sighed dramatically, effectively stopping her two friends, "what am I going to do without you, Aoi?"

Shizuru joined in with the horrible acting on Natsuki's part and patted her shoulder, trying not to burst out laughing as she spoke, "Ara, you poor girl, she'll be gone for two _whole_ days!"

"NO!" Natsuki bit her lip to stop a smile from forming, "two whole days you say? The horror! How shall I live?"

Shizuru and Natsuki then burst out laughing, leaving Aoi to ball her fists and glare at them.

Her crush could either be the most serious person on the planet, or the most silliest. At the moment, it was the latter and very annoying too.

And Shizuru was... Shizuru was not _helping_!

Natsuki and Shizuru both stopped laughing when a snowball came and hit Natsuki square in the face.

A smugly grinning Aoi crossed her arms at the payback and started to walk in the direction of Shizuru's house, where they had initially been heading, as she heard Shizuru erupt into laughter. Payback was sweet.

"Oi!" Natsuki scolded Shizuru for laughing at her, and Aoi turned around in time to see Natsuki tackle Shizuru into a nearby snow pile.

"Natsuki!" Shizuru was wearing a new sweater, and now it was wet.

Grinning, Natsuki got off of her annoyed but equally playful friend and grabbed a fistful of snow before turning to the still staring and giggling Aoi.

One down and one to go.

Oh Natsuki, if only tou knew you literally had them _both_ down.

"Why, Miss Senoh, I think you need a face wash."

Aoi giggled with a shriek and ran away as Natsuki chased her, also running away from Shizuru who wanted her own vengeance on Natsuki.

It wasn't until Natsuki's soccer trained legs caught up to Aoi and tackled her into a bank of snow before turning and bringing Shizuru into the pile, that they all laughed together and tried to throw snow in one another's faces.

A few people walking by on the busy sidewalk looked amused, except for one old lady who looked as if she saw an alien.

Soon, they were exhausted, and lay in the cold but relaxing snow as they caught their breaths.

Natsuki then quickly flicked her gaze to Shizuru, eyes lingering on her lips maybe too long before she turned and caught Aoi staring at her with a small blush.

Aoi always noticed her while Shizuru... Shizuru rarely did.

But Natsuki didn't realize Shizuru was now staring at her, because Aoi wanted her attention and started a conversation.

Shizuru smiled at Aoi's excitement, she turned her head back up to the clouds and swore she saw one shaped like a heart.

A broken heart.

()()()()()

"Man it's almost summer holidays; you think anyone's going to have an end of year party? I need to get wasted," Nao said rubbing her forehead and yawning, "I told you about the flop last Sunday, right?"

"Last Sunday?" Natsuki looked up from her cellphone she had been texting Aoi on with random flirting messages and looked interested.

"Yeah," Nao grinned, "Viola apparently hooked up with a couple freshmen from out of town, two in one night, and they had a bitch fight over her."

Natsuki frowned, "that was Sunday? Aoi told me about that."

It was very Shizuru like to cause two girls fighting for her attention. Sometimes it was scary how obsessive they could get over her.

Shizuru really was such a playgirl sometimes, and such a heartbreaker.

Natsuki didn't like it, not one bit. Considering she was a victim and all...

"Yeah," Nao took a sip of her cola, "she's getting some action, I wonder if I should ask her for tips..."

Natsuki's fingers tightened and her face went pale, but Nao didn't notice.

"Anyways," Nao turned on Natsuki's TV, "what's up with-"

"You and Aoi," Takeda walked in with a stretch and threw his schoolbag on the floor, "even I've been dying to know."

Natsuki flushed slightly, glad to be thinking of something other than Shizuru and Shizuru's irresistibleness and ran a hand through her hair as she sent Aoi a reply text.

"She likes me," Natsuki told her friends, "I think I'm going to ask her out officially tomorrow."

"Kruger, you dog. That's one hot girl," Nao teased.

Natsuki rolled her eyes, she knew Aoi was hot. _Very_ hot, and she was damn lucky such a nice girl liked her.

She knew that., and she didn't want to hurt Aoi's feelings either.

"Hands off," Natsuki playfully scolded Nao.

Though Nao grinned and took it one way, Natsuki held a secret double meaning. She had to keep her hands off of Shizuru.

Things would be so much easier if she just liked Aoi more than Shizuru.

So why couldn't she stop herself sometimes?

'You can't really help who you fall in love with,' the saying goes. These girls had yet to find out just how true that saying was for them.

()()()()()()

"I have a good feeling," Aoi said hugging her pillow tight as Shizuru checked e-mails on her laptop in the room, "Natsuki was really sweet yesterday, and we've been texting a lot more lately."

Shizuru paused typing for a second before her usual teasing smile appeared as she turned to face Aoi, "Natsuki's going to ask you out. Officially."

"You think?" Aoi asked, slightly cocky but more nervous. She had gotten that feeling but this was really big to her.

"Of course," Shizuru got up and went into the bathroom, "I _know_ it."

Once she locked the door, she pulled out her cellphone, and texted Natsuki with slightly trembling fingers.

Her fingers always trembled when she texted Natsuki, or phoned her, or even heard of her.

_You and Aoi were very cute yesterday, anything I should know about?_

It took a few seconds before her phone vibrated back.

_I like her_

Shizuru sighed, in relief and sadness. Aoi liked Natsuki, Natsuki liked Aoi. Shizuru and Natsuki were just... friends. Just friends.

_Let me guess, you're asking her out tomorrow?_

She held her breath, praying for her sister-like best friend's wishes to come true and anxiously swallowed her dry throat when the next text came.

_Why not? She likes me, right?_

Shizuru jumped when Aoi suddenly started playing music from her room, before she calmed down and responded quickly.

_Exactly. You guys like each other, it's about time :P _

And as expected after Shizuru deleted evidence of the conversation because Aoi could read it, as she knew Natsuki was doing, Natsuki never replied.

They always tried to keep their conversations and communications to minimum, seeing too much of each other could probably only make them want more.

Hands off.

Shizuru walked back out into the room after to find Aoi predictably painting her nails a dark red she found in a magazine was 'alluring' and had been wanting to wear for ages.

Shizuru smiled at her fondly and joined her on the bed, taking the bottle and painting Aoi's toe-nails for her, something they often did together.

Aoi let out a sigh and watched Shizuru paint her nails for a bit.

"Shiz?"

"Hmmm?" Shizuru moved on to the next toe-nail.

"You're okay with me going out with Natsuki, right?"

Shizuru paused before she cleared her jumbled thoughts and answered, "of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Aoi's eyes narrowed, something was off on Shizuru but she couldn't place it.

"Well," Aoi continued, "it won't be awkward right? Like when we three hang out together and-"

"No," Shizuru cut her off and looked up to Aoi with an amused smile, "No worries. If you're asking because you think I like her or something, you're wrong." _You're right._

Aoi felt like Shizuru was lying, "What-"

"And Natsuki does not like me either," Shizuru giggled. _Hands off._

Aoi was silent for a while, she knew Shizuru was particularly touchy about this subject and she was way too excited in anticipating becoming Natsuki's girlfriend that she just decided to change the subject.

"I get it, I get it. What I _don't _get is Kinomoto-san coming to me in the hallways yesterday asking me if you hated her."

Shizuru, glad at the change of subject, looked up from her best friend's toe-nails, "who's Kinomoto-san?"

"The girl you made out with last Sunday."

"Which one? I think there were two brunettes..."

"They were blonde," Aoi giggled.

Shizuru grinned, "Ara, I hope I stopped at two."

Aoi laughed softly, "you know, does it run in your family to be so... _promiscuous?_"

"Promiscuous!" Shizuru declared with a grin, "why Aoi, I'm still a virgin you know, and as far as I remember I didn't defile those girls."

Aoi laughed, "No, you didn't. You passed out and Natsuki carried you home."

Aoi wiggled her now finished toe-nails and jumped off the bed, missing Shizuru's brief falter of smile and laugh.

"Natsuki did?" Shizuru inquired.

"Yep," Aoi said, "and no, I'm not mad at you before you ask, I ended up talking to Natsuki for a whole hour. Alone. She is so hot." Aoi giggled, "I told you remember? We got drunk and kissed for like, and hour in your living room."

Shizuru forced a smile, "this was last Sunday?"

"Yeah," Aoi started rummaging her drawer for a pen, "I swear I told you during physics in notes."

All that note had said was, 'OMG, last night Natsuki kissed me at your house.'

Shizuru remembered now, but Aoi failed to mention it was an hour long make-out session.

After all, Aoi and Natsuki had made out before; it was always an effect of alcohol between them.

Shizuru didn't know why she felt slightly disturbed, however, that the two did this while she was passed out. In _her_ house.

Besides, that morning she had been way too hung over to pay attention to a note.

()()()()()()()

"Hey," Natsuki pushed her hands into her pockets and greeted Shizuru with a small smile.

"Hey you," Shizuru put away the magazine she had been reading and returned the smile, both hiding their awkwardness at being alone, "Aoi is just being fussy about her clothes."

Natsuki grinned, that sounded a lot like Aoi of course.

"So, uh," Natsuki sat down and scratched the back of her head nervously, "does Aoi... know?"

Shizuru stretched her legs out and smiled devilishly, "know what?"

"That..." Natsuki leaned back a bit, "that I'm going to ask her out."

"Don't be nervous Natsuki," Shizuru said picking up the magazine, "and I think she has an idea."

"Oh..." Natsuki let out a small sigh.

"We both know she's wanted to go out with you officially ever since she knew you."

There was a silence, Natsuki opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.

That was a warning, a reminder._ Hands off._

"Don't you dare mess it up," Shizuru's grip on a magazine page tightened, "She's had nothing to talk about but you all week waiting for this date."

"Shizuru!" Aoi's voice called from upstairs, "have you seen my Gucci flats?"

"They're at my house," Shizuru called back, "why don't you wear the pumps we got last month?"

"Pumps?"

"The shiny black ones," Shizuru turned back to her magazine, not daring to make eye contact with Natsuki who seemed to be evaluating her feelings and staring.

Natsuki had always been good at evaluating her feelings, no matter how hard she tried to hide them.

"And hurry up Aoi-chu, Natsuki's here."

There was a silence, and Shizuru knew Aoi was blushing and probably adding finishing touches to her flawless brown hair and even applying an extra layer of strawberry lip gloss.

Shizuru smiled fondly at the thought and turned her eyes to look at Natsuki who was not staring at her anymore, but had stood up to grab a Kleenex from the coffee table nearby.

Tight dark blue skinny jeans, fashionable black loafers, a blue perfectly fitting and often worn hooded t-shirt covered by her favourite leather jacket, topped with crystal studded earrings, and her favourite pendant dangling just out of her shirt.

Shizuru's eyes fluttered over Natsuki's dark blue hair, soft hair she felt like reaching out to touch and run her hands through, loose and swaying as she bent to the tissue and pulled it from the box before blowing into it with that adorable perfect nose and making a frown on those utterly kissable lips that probably tasted like her favourite mint balm, and her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowing while her beautiful green eyes fluttered covered by those equally beautiful long lashes with a natural curl.

"Sorry about that Natsuki," Aoi's voice came to interrupt Shizuru's dangerous thoughts as she trotted down the stairs, "ready to go?"

"Yeah," Natsuki smiled a small blush at what Aoi was wearing.

She looked hot.

She was flattered Aoi would dress up for her, a nice green dress of a silky looking material and she was wearing those black pumps on her cute little feet. Red nail polish on her toes stuck out form the peep and definitely had their alluring ability.

The slight blush to her cheeks was what made Shizuru close her magazine and get up from the couch, as well as Aoi's eyes clearly portraying thoughts she herself just experienced. "All right you two, don't do anything too fun without me."

Aoi giggled and gave Shizuru a quick hug, thanking her with a kiss to the cheek for the whisper of 'good luck' in her ear.

"I'll see you tomorrow, right." Aoi walked to the door with Natsuki, "because you have a date tonight too, remember?"

Shizuru giggled, "Ara I almost forgot."

()()()

"So," Aoi said as they walked down the street, "You said you had something you wanted to say to me?"

Natsuki felt a hand shyly entwine with her own and she gulped nervously, "y-yeah..."

She cleared her throat and sat them down on a bench they approached with a blush.

"Aoi, I like you. We've always been kind of vague-"

"I'll be your girlfriend," Aoi cut her off with a blush herself.

Natsuki blushed as Aoi tilted her head slightly up and snaked arms around her neck.

This kiss was different from their others, they were sober first of all, and also official.

It was just a soft press of lips, everything Aoi dreamed of in the movie of her life, and she could practically picture the fireworks.

Natsuki had never really realised how nice a simple kiss felt and she wanted to do it again.

After they broke off, Aoi got a little bolder now that they were officially exclusive as a couple, and grabbed Natsuki's arm hostage, "do you want to go... back to my place?"

Natsuki blushed, holding back from blurting out a yes, and stuttered for a bit until Aoi explained, "To watch a movie..."

The movie was of course a lie, and Natsuki gave into her new girlfriend's wish.

()()()()()()

"She was so romantic," Aoi sighed, "And we didn't even watch the movie!"

Shizuru giggled, "Of course you didn't. But you can't exactly call _Natsuki_ romantic, can you?"

Aoi scoffed, "why not?"

"How is Natsuki romantic for giving you a hickey? It's not like she had candles or anything."

"The lights were dim..." Aoi defended with a cute pout.

Shizuru giggled even more, "Because you were watching a movie? And it was your house, and I bet you dimmed the lights."

"Whatever!" Aoi crossed her arms, "we're going out again tonight. Want to come?"

"And watch you two lovebirds kiss 'romantically'? No thanks. I'm going over to Mikoto's tonight."

"We'll stop by there," Aoi said rubbing her eye, "but probably after nine or so because we're going to an actual movie tonight. Something about kung-fu."

"Ara I wanted to see that actually," Shizuru said, "it's called _Haiwajin Kensei: the kung-fu thriller._"

"The lead actress is so hot," Aoi admitted, "you should come. Natsuki seemed excited so I'm sure we won't really be making out..."

"Hai hai," Shizuru agreed reluctantly, "I'll come."

Aoi hugged her with glee, and Shizuru knew there was no point arguing with a stubborn Aoi.

Something they shared in common.

()()()()

"Definitely the part where she cut his head off," Natsuki slurred to Shizuru.

"No," Shizuru slowly said back and blinked, "I preferred when she climbed the castle wall and saved the princess."

"I sec-mmmm-und that," Aoi grabbed Natsuki's face and pulled her into a random and unexpected drunken kiss.

Shizuru saw Mikoto watching from across the room and waved, the party was just like any other. She tried to ignore Aoi's giggles and pushed her drunk self off the couch.

It was only a few seconds before her admirers, equally wasted, tried to hit on her.

The boldest one that evening was a girl with long orangey-red hair, she whispered into Shizuru's ear to 'get a room' much to the jealousy of the other girls.

Shizuru, being herself and feeling recently and secretly broken hearted about Aoi and Natsuki, followed the girl's leading hand into Mikoto's father's study and didn't mind the girl moan into her mouth after kissing her.

This girl had long hair like Natsuki's but Shizuru didn't dare lift her hands, blaming it on the three beers and two shots she had with her friends half an hour earlier.

This girl was really horny, apparently, as she tried to grind into Shizuru.

Shizuru gave into the girl's desire, not really knowing why, like every other time she was faced with theses instances, she didn't stop.

()()()()

"Hideki Cordelia?!" Aoi looked very, very cross.

"Ara?"

"Shizuru!" Aoi was definitely very, very cross, "you made out with _Hideki Cordelia_ in Mikoto's study!"

"I did?"

"Yes!" Aoi let out a frustrated sigh, "do you know who she is?"

"Member of my fan club?' Shizuru sipped from her warm cup of tea and felt warmth at the nice taste.

"No!" Aoi started to pace, "she's my _cousin._ She goes to a school across town, but Mikoto really liked her and you ruined it for Mikoto."

Shizuru raised a brow, "You wanted to help Mikoto?"

Aoi blushed, "yes, Natsuki and I are together now. I'm so over Mikoto. "

Ouch. Painful reminder.

Shizuru took a sip of her tea but it tasted very bitter now.

_Hands off._

"Aoi," Shizuru looked at her best friend, "I don' know who that was, and she hit on me so it's not my fault."

Aoi folded her arms again, "Shizuru, Hideki and I aren't on the best terms through family, but I'm sure you still hurt her feelings as well as Mikoto's."

Shizuru stared at the now horribly bitter tea and pushed it out of her eyesight as Aoi continued.

"I've told you before, but you really shouldn't play with girls feelings like that. How would you feel if your heart got broken by the person you liked?"

_It already has._

"Sorry, Aoi-chu," Shizuru sighed, "I don't know why I just-"

Her pause and watery eyes caused Aoi to give her a warm hug and smile, "I get it. I don't know exactly, but I understand..."

Shizuru returned the hug and smile.

Aoi was the closest person to her, the only person she could hug at the moment and feel happy with.

()()()()()

"Do you know who wrote it?" Natsuki, fresh from soccer practice and downright delicious in sweats and a tee, asked with a very angry voice.

Aoi shook her head and swooned at her girlfriend's protective nature, her eyes darting to Natsuki's frowning lips.

"No," she shrugged, "Shizuru was pretty scared actually."

Natsuki was joined on Aoi's bed by Aoi who finally gave into her desire of being close and snuggled.

Shizuru walked into Aoi's bedroom and was about to say something before the words died in her throat.

"I didn't know you were here," she said to Natsuki and forced her eyes away from the snugly couple.

Natsuki raised an eyebrow, "and I was _hoping_ you wouldn't be here."

Shizuru grinned at the joke, while Aoi blushed and smacked Natsuki's arm.

"I showed her the note," Aoi informed her best friend whose smile faltered.

"Do you know who wrote it?" Natsuki's anger came back.

Shizuru could relate for she was equally angry but also frightened for Aoi.

Shizuru had been at Aoi's locker making sure her lip gloss was on correctly in Aoi's mirror as Aoi collected her textbook, but they realised a note addressed to Aoi had been taped on the inside. It read:

_Stay away from Shizuru-sama, or else_.

"I'm more than sure it's a fan, but the note is typed so I can't tell by handwriting."

()()()()

"Hey, Daddy?" Natsuki asked her younger father as he cooked some pasta for a dinner they had together once a month.

"Yes?" Her father dipped his finger in a sauce and frowned at the taste before grabbing more spices.

"How did, uh, you know Dad was the one for you?"

Her father's movements stopped and he looked slightly surprised at the question before he chuckled.

"I didn't, really."

"You didn't?"

"No," he said with a grin, "your dad and I used to like the same girl."

"Huh?"

"Yeah," he washed his hands and dried them on the towel, "we used to be rivals for her affection."

"How did you get together then?" Natsuki asked, confused.

"We got stuck on a train together," he turned off the stove and started grabbing some of their rarely used porcelain plates to set the table as Natsuki started packing her homework up.

"It was a soccer trip," he explained, "your dad had been team captain and always hard on me during season. That trip we got split from our group and ended up on the wrong train together. We had to get along to find our way back but ended up spending a night together in a hotel room because it was too late at night."

"And then..." Natsuki asked with a blush, not knowing if it was okay to ask this.

"We became friends," her daddy's eyes brightened, "and then... it just happened. We ended up going out after he graduated and I became captain. Then we dated for two years, got married..."

Natsuki nodded and bit her lip before asking her father rather shyly, "I'm official with Aoi."

"Senoh?" Her daddy raised a teasing brow.

"Yeah," Natsuki hesitated but realised that if she couldn't tell her daddy this, she would always be left alone with it bothering her, "I like her. And she's liked me for a long time... we're good friends but..."

Her daddy laughed, "Natsuki, don't worry about it. You're young and have a long way to go. Maybe you'll end up with her or not. You never know."

Natsuki nodded. Her father cut her off where she had been about to admit for the first time out loud that she possibly loved Shizuru Viola.

Maybe that was a sign?

"Alright, dinner's ready."

()()()()()

"I think you're safe," Shizuru sighed, "now that everyone knows you're dating Natsuki, I mean."

"I doubt anyone is that obsessed with you Shiz," Aoi groaned. "Stop worrying okay? It's already been two weeks and nothing happened."

Shizuru rolled her eyes, "okay ,okay."

A 'pop' came from both girl's soda can's as they opened it at the same time.

"Bogo thinks you're worrying too much," Aoi joked and laid her back to the tree.

Shizuru and Aoi, as silly as it might sound, felt at home under Bogo.

"Ara, Bogo-chan thinks you should wear more makeup to cover you hickies."

"What!" Aoi panicked and checked her neck only to realise Shizuru was fooling her. "Shizuru!"

Shizuru giggled and then let out a sigh, followed by Aoi.

"Hey," they turned to see Natsuki grin at them and land herself next to Aoi, away from Shizuru.

"Hey," Aoi straightened her back a bit and stuck out her chest.

Shizuru was amused, but equally uncomfortable seeing them together.

She liked to believe she was more jealous that she spent less time with Aoi than the fact that Natsuki wasn't greeting her with a 'hey'.

"Ara, I have a chem lab to finish!" Shizuru jumped up and waved to them, "see you."

Natsuki looked bemused at her disappearance causing Aoi to giggle.

"She already did her lab, and mine."

Natsuki snorted, "Does she not like my company?"

_Quite the contrary, actually._

"No," Aoi blushed, "she probably doesn't want to be, like, a third wheel."

Natsuki flushed herself; her girlfriend's blush was very cute.

"So what do you want to do today?"

Aoi actually wanted to kiss Natsuki some more and experiment.

She moved in a bit and put her can of coke down as she met Natsuki's expecting lips with her own underneath Bogo.

It felt nice.

Shizuru had turned on a whim to look behind her, only to see what she half-expected.

With emotionless eyes she turned to walk faster away from the scene.

Hands off meant hands off.

So she kept her hands in her pockets and forced a smile on her face.


	7. Chapter 6: This is How We Forgive

**A/N** Chie makes her inevitable entrance! Enjoy :D and thank you to the reviewers, I now have over a hundred story alerts too, so thank you to those alerts

Chapter 6: Later Days

()()

BANG. The door slammed shut.

It was a really loud bang, probably because she was also hung-over, but she did not appreciate it.

"Ungh," she mumbled and rubbed her eyes to look around the room.

She was naked and in a hotel room.

Not very surprising.

As if on cue, her cellphone went off. That ring was also very loud and not appreciated.

"What?" She mumbled into the phone and kicked her feet off the bed as she started searching for her clothes.

"_Can you come over soon...? I really need someone to talk to."_

All bitter morning symptoms left at the sound of vulnerability in that voice.

Her sister never ever showed such fright.

Never.

She stalked over to the motel table and checked the address of it, pretty close to her house.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes."

Her sister hung up and she grabbed her expensive suit she had worn the night out before.

Only one day back home and she had already gotten laid.

Score!

And she could totally remember that gorgeous girl's face and blue eyes.

Double score!

While searching the room to make sure she had everything, she found a necklace on the ground; a beautiful silver chain with a heart.

It was cute, and she pocketed it.

She left her name at the motel counter so if anyone came looking for the silver necklace they would contact her, and then she hailed a taxi and told him to speed it up for an extra twenty to her house.

()()()()

There was a knock and Shizuru rolled her eyes, why would Chie need to knock on the door? She was family. Not to mention they had a doorbell too.

Opening the door, Shizuru was more than surprised to find Natsuki staring defiantly at her.

Natsuki shoved her way in before Shizuru could shut the door on her and then closed the door herself.

"We need to talk."

Shizuru tried to look anywhere but at those intense green eyes.

Why was this so torturous? Even at a time where they should hate each other she wanted to kiss her and make love to her on the couch behind them.

"What is there to talk about?"

"A lot of things," Natsuki was in a white t-shirt and it had a small stain on it.

Shizuru's heart almost leapt – that was the stain from last Christmas before she left when she spilled tartar sauce on Natsuki by accident. Natsuki still had that shirt?

"I told Aoi."

Shizuru's wandering thoughts stopped and finally focused on Natsuki.

That had to possibly be the worst news she ever heard.

Natsuki started to feel her bravado crumble at Shizuru's suddenly torn face but she pushed forward to fill in the silence.

"She hates me."

Shizuru's eyes started to water, "I was going to tell her." She said it in an almost whisper, "That explains why she hasn't been answering my calls. And I thought she was just... used to not answering my calls anymore."

Now tears started to roll down her face, "Aoi is really all I have..." Shizuru said and sat down on the couch.

Natsuki sat down next to her and offered a hand to her shoulder, the most she dared. Neither of them was used to being so emotional, but Shizuru had had a very emotional year.

They failed to hear the small creak of the back door to the luxurious mansion where the kitchen was as someone entered and overheard them.

"My mom never comes home now," Shizuru said, "that year away in boarding school... I was totally alone. I missed you guys." With more tears now, Shizuru brought a sleeve to her face, "how could I have done that to her?"

"Stop it," Natsuki said, feeling very strange tears want to come out of her own eyes because Shizuru was crying and it was the thing she decided she hated most in this world. "It's more of my fault than yours."

Shizuru turned to her, trying to shake her head, "Na-"

"No," Natsuki cut her off, "it was. You had literally just learned about your mom's death an hour before. I... I was drunk, but not that drunk that I didn't know what I was doing. I took advantage of you when you were vulnerable."

"No," Shizuru got up, wiping away the last of her tears, "I'm the one who took advantage of you when you were angry. Aoi and Mikoto hooked up right in front of you."

Natsuki laughed almost bitterly, "Shizuru, it's my fault, okay?"

Shizuru was taken aback, "Natsuki, it's-"

"All my fault!" Natsuki continued and stood up from the couch, "Because of me, you and Aoi – the best and closest friends I've ever seen – aren't talking to each other."

Shizuru sat in silence for a bit, "you can't take all the blame..." she finally said softly.

Natsuki sighed, "I can, and I will. Seriously Shizuru," Natsuki said turning back to face her, "who was more vulnerable? You who had run out of your house after learning about your mother's death, or me, who had only drunk a bit and was jealous watching her _ex-girlfriend_ make out with her new one after breaking up in one day?"

Shizuru was about to comfort Natsuki, but the girl collapsed back onto the couch, "do you have some milk and cookies? I really want some."

Shizuru giggled, "Ara, still eat them whenever you get exhausted?"

Natsuki chuckled, "yeah."

Shizuru got up and Natsuki followed her to the kitchen where they had milk and cookies over the expensive marble top barstools.

"I'm sorry," Natsuki said after the fist bite.

Shizuru shook her head, "please don't say sorry anymore. I'm also sorry..."

Natsuki and Shizuru could never recall ever being so comfortable around each other since they were in middle school.

"So what should we do?" Shizuru asked.

Natsuki let out another tired sigh, chugging down the rest of her milk, "The year you were gone, Aoi and I got pretty close. I can't stand her hating me, and I... I want her back."

Shizuru nodded, "I can't stand her hating me either. I just left her and never contacted her for a year, save a postcard. I'm such a bad friend."

"Yeah," Natsuki teased with a wan smile, "you are."

Shizuru giggled, "And you are a bad girlfriend."

"Oi," Natsuki said, "don't rub it in. And I don't think I have a girlfriend at the moment."

"We'll fix that," Shizuru said, all importantly, "We have to right the wrongs we've done."

"What, get on my knees and beg Aoi to take me back?"

Shizuru frowned at her before grinning, "If that's what it takes. Aoi deserves you to beg, then be her slave, and then buy her all the clothes she wants. I see a few thousands on your bill."

"Hey," Natsuki pretended to look offended.

"Thank you, Natsuki," Shizuru said looking down at her hands before smiling brightly, "you're a good friend."

Natsuki flushed slightly, some things never changed. "You too..."

"Do you love Aoi?" Shizuru next question was really random.

"Yes," Natsuki said, "I do. I love her, and I don't how serious it is. Like, I mean," Natsuki rambled trying to explain her thoughts, "I love my parents, I love Nao, and I love you."

Shizuru tried not to flush.

"You and Aoi have always been different to me," she said softly and rubbed her neck awkwardly, "but I really miss her."

Shizuru let out a sigh, "I love you too, Natsuki, and I love Aoi. Thanks for taking care of her when I was gone."

Suddenly a sob and a wail of crying interrupted their thoughts and the back door of the kitchen burst open as Aoi ran into them and hugged them.

That was... unexpected.

"I love you guys too," she sobbed, strangling their necks in her hug.

"Aoi-chu!" Shizuru got all mushy and excluded Natsuki as she hugged her best friend really close.

"Shiz! I heard everything you guys said! I couldn't help it!" Aoi sniffed back.

Natsuki stepped out, a fond smile on her face. If those two used their pet-names for each other, that meant they were cool again.

"Natsuki," Aoi stared at her, tears slowing down and a strange sense of guilt getting to her.

"I should get going," Natsuki tried to head for the door.

"Wait," Aoi grabbed her sleeve, "I forgive you."

Natsuki turned around, something was off if she was being forgiven so easily.

Shizuru sensed it too.

"But," Aoi looked into her green eyes with very guilty blue ones, "I need you to forgive me."

Natsuki relaxed, "of course I forgive you, and you didn't do anything."

"I did," Aoi croaked out, "Last night, I did. I was so angry with you guys that I went out and... and I slept with a total stranger."

Natsuki and Shizuru both had their eyes grow large.

Aoi? Aoi Senoh? Aoi Senoh slept with a total stranger? It had to be a joke.

"What's their name," Natsuki managed to ground out of her teeth.

Even Shizuru looked like she wanted to hurt this stranger.

"I don't know," Aoi said, trying to calm her down.

"Well," A voice came from the kitchen doorway, "this is awkward."

"Chie?" Shizuru remembered how she had phoned her sister to come over.

"Hey," Chie walked up into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She grinned wickedly at Aoi and pulled a silver chain from her pocket, "you forgot this last night."

()()()()

She had slept with Shizuru's sister.

Chie Viola, her first crush ever, and someone she knew through Shizuru's stories was a player.

And she _slept_ with her: Lost her virginity to her on an angry _whim_.

"Wow," Shizuru handed her a cola and sat under Bogo, "I can't believe you lost your virginity to my sister."

Just like old times, they felt at home with each other.

Aoi glared and snapped the cola open, "it's not funny! Natsuki has every right to be angry."

Shizuru giggled, "Chie deserved the black eye."

Despite everything that happened, Shizuru could only find all of their angst and drama utterly hilarious and laughable.

The memory of Natsuki flaring in anger and punching Chie out on the viola's kitchen floor was, in a strange way, adorable and funny.

"Think of it as... a fresh start," Shizuru said to Aoi with a comforting hand and smile, "maybe now you and Natsuki can have a better relationship."

Aoi laid down, "how was it? Sex with Natsuki?"

It felt like they were even closer than before with their feelings finally out and bare.

Shizuru blushed before turning to Aoi, "Ara, I don't really remember anything except feeling... relieved."

Aoi blushed, "oh. Well... last night was pretty incredible."

Aoi blushed now.

Shizuru giggled, "That's the Viola gene."

A light punch was thrown to her shoulder and they both giggled.

"I want to experience that," Aoi sighed, "I want to feel that incredible with Natsuki."

Shizuru sighed, she did too.

"Me too."

She had never ever admitted to it, but now she felt as though there was nothing to lose. Their feelings were all out in the open anyways.

"How come you never told me?" Aoi asked, "I would have-"

"That's why," Shizuru said playing with the top of her cola can, "I want you to be happy. Natsuki and I were always so confusing..."

Aoi hugged Shizuru and kissed her cheek, "I want you to go out with Natsuki."

"No," Shizuru hugged her back, "you love her, and you've planned your wedding with her since grade six. Besides, I'm getting over her."

"That's a lie."

Shizuru sighed, "She still wants you back. You and Natsuki have gotten close this past year. I won't talk to you ever again if you don't take her back."


End file.
